Blazers beat Rockets, stay hot at home

Jan 3, 2011 - 6:55 AM
Portland, OR (Sports Network) - LaMarcus Aldridge had a double-double with 25
points and 11 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers earned their eighth
straight home win with a 100-85 victory over Houston.

Nicolas Batum added 21 points and Wesley Matthews and Patrick Mills both
scored 14 for the Blazers, who haven't lost inside the Rose Garden since
November 26.

Portland built a 17-point lead through three quarters and won for the sixth
time in eight games overall.

"We did a good job executing the game plan and defensively (did) a nice job of
being physical," said Blazers head coach Nate McMillan.

Kevin Martin scored 15 points to lead the Rockets, who lost for the second
time in three games on the heels of a five-game winning streak. Courtney Lee
added 12 points in the setback.

Houston didn't hold a lead after the 5:35 mark of the first quarter, but
Portland failed to take control of the game until late in the third.

The Blazers stretched their lead from five points to 17 with a 12-0 run
sparked by Aldridge's hook shot. Aldridge threw down an alley-oop dunk later
in the burst and followed it with a steal that led to Batum's bank shot for a
75-58 advantage.

The lead was as high as 19 points before Aaron Brooks' layup pulled Houston
within 79-62 heading into the final quarter.

Portland's advantage ballooned to 23 on a Mills bucket with seven minutes
remaining and never dipped below 13 the rest of the way.

"We were stuck behind all night. We weren't ready to play," said Rockets head
coach Rick Adelman.

It was the first time the Blazers won eight straight at home since a 12-game
streak from January 24-March 9, 2009.

They led by as many as eight points on the way to a 27-25 edge after the first
quarter, and they were ahead by as much as 12 in the second before heading to
the locker room with a 54-48 advantage.

Game Notes

Portland also extended its home winning streak over Houston, pushing it to
four games...The Blazers shot 43 percent from the field to Houston's 41.